


Steady, Steady, Volatile

by Sugar_and_Salt



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: M/M, Polyamory, Romance, Sci-Fi, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-25
Updated: 2019-09-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 09:49:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20387743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sugar_and_Salt/pseuds/Sugar_and_Salt
Summary: Chanyeol was fickle - so fickle that most games glitched out upon trying to interpret his thoughts. It made him a wonderful asset to their team and a train wreck to be with outside of the virtual reality. Good thing that Minseok and Yixing were more than just his co-workers.





	Steady, Steady, Volatile

**Author's Note:**

  * For [quavemire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/quavemire/gifts).

> hello to my lovely recipient! this is short and your prompt deserved much more but thank you for giving me such nice prompts and ships to work with. I hope you enjoy this little gift even a little <3
> 
> thanks to my last minute beta and thanks to the mod for giving us a chance to collectively gush about chanyeol!

They had been spotted. This was bad. And so close to the portal, too. With a grimace, Yixing switched from gun to knife, choosing his best weapon without hesitation.

"Shit," he heard Minseok curse. "That's a lot."

Chanyeol didn't say anything; he was already busy fighting off one of them, slashing away at the ominous-looking, lethal mass of muscle and fur.

Yixing got ready to support him, subtly inching closer while Minseok took cover, readying his rifle. They couldn't lose now - they were so close to mastering this area, which would make them the first team to do so. Being granted exclusive access by the company was a huge honour, and people were watching. Failure was not an option.

"Chanyeol, there's more of them, come back to me - Min, we're going in, call when you need us."

Between the three of them, it was always on Yixing to plan, to organize, to keep an eye on both of them equally. Not like there was much to look out for with Minseok. Being a sniper, they had mutually agreed on him doing his own thing, reaching out if he needed them.

Chanyeol, on the upper hand...

"Chanyeol, _ now_," Yixing repeated, cringing a little at how harsh he'd sounded, but it seemed to work, because Chanyeol ripped himself free, but it was too late - a horde of unidentifiable monsters jumped out of the woodwork they had come from not too long ago, tackling Chanyeol down. Without hesitation, Yixing jumped to his aid, his aching muscles complying under the burst of adrenaline.

Projectiles were flying past him and the beast sitting on top of Chanyeol fell off, hit by Minseok. Yixing dug his knife into the first thing jumping him, and then there were claws everywhere, dull, strong fur and teeth dripping with saliva that was disgustingly hot on his cheek. Yixing took the first one down, ducking away from the next, but they were everywhere - he turned towards Chanyeol, who was holding his ground until something jumped at him from behind, hitting him before falling right _ through _him.

It was happening again.

Chanyeol's entire posture changed immediately as he turned towards the offending beast, ignoring the way the others kept attacking him, again, going right through him.

Yixing resulted to dodging and seeking his distance, keeping an eye on Chanyeol instead.

They all knew he was safe, and at this point, the glitches were part of their strategy - as much as you could plan Chanyeol's random, neuronal outbursts that caused them. Even after two years of playing together, Yixing would never get tired of watching Chanyeol use them though. Not just having them happen, but actively using them. His body was flickering, green crystals and patterns, slim, neon lines flashing up and disappearing like interferences and then Chanyeol was gone, only to appear a few meters to Yixing's left, going right through the enemies, flashing all over the area, taking them out fast and vicious as lightning striking down. It stopped as fast as it had happened, leaving only a handful of enemies Yixing and Minseok took down without any trouble.

Chanyeol was leaning by a tree when Yixing came over to get him, breathing heavily.

Part of his cheek was crystallized, still stuck in the glitch. It easily gave way and turned back to warm skin under Yixing's fingertips.

Chanyeol blinked up at him in question. For just a moment, his clear, expressive eyes looked real, and Yixing wanted to lean in and kiss him.

With thousands of people watching from the comforts of their homes, however, he wouldn't.

"There was some dirt on your face," he only hummed, relishing in the way Chanyeol leaned into his touch on instinct, despite touches to the face not feeling all that authentic.

"Let's go get Minseok," Yixing announced, breaking the moment. Chanyeol grinned.

"Yeah."

"You mean let me go get _ you _. Move your asses over here," Minseok sighed goodnaturedly from the ruins of a building he'd taken cover in.

_ People are going to love that_, Yixing thought as he stalked through the high grass alongside Chanyeol, aiming for the abandoned, mysterious building hiding the portal. He could already see the comments on how Minseok didn't like to be excluded, how he got jealous easily.

They had made up entirely new personas for all of them, and it was debatable whether they were more wrong about Minseok or him. He didn't mind giving fanservice, too - it was part of the job, after all.

They weren't all that wrong when it came to Chanyeol but his condition made it easy to make assumptions. Even so, their interpretation remained superficial.

The real Chanyeol was the one they met after logging out, after they'd stepped out of their gear, out of their separate cabins and into the large, shared shower.

After a glitch this intense, he was usually tired and malleable, easily molding against them, gently massaging shampoo into Minseok's hair while Yixing cleaned himself up. It didn't just end here though.

Real life couldn't glitch, of course, but Chanyeol's mind could. It wasn't like he would suddenly turn aggressive or harbor twisted, dangerous thoughts - though in dark moments, Chanyeol admitted that without them, he might be in a pretty bad place.

But no, Chanyeol was simply... sensitive. Sensitive to his surroundings, forever forced to adapt to people's moods and exert more energy than anyone else involved.

With Chanyeol, it was all about extremes - if people were mildly amused, it made him unreasonably happy. If someone was angry, he'd turn even angrier. And if he was stressed... well, if he was stressed, something about his thoughts got so jumpy and odd that it snuck past the usual sensors and caused most games they were playing to glitch.

There had been a very long discussion on whether this qualified as cheating, one that had had Chanyeol examined and his condition defined as a sickness.

A fact that ironically, didn't seem to put Chanyeol down the way it would have affected Yixing himself. _ It explains a lot_, he'd told them one day. _ I just like the clarity. _

Just thinking of this made Yixing feel a sudden burst of fondness, and he peppered a few, wet kisses down the other's shoulder blades.

Chanyeol wasn't dangerous. He was simply unpredictable. A bit unstable.

Much unlike Minseok and Yixing, who'd been placed by his side for that exact reason.

They weren't told to share a bed with him, but that's simply how things had turned out.

Not like the company they were representing complained. Currently, they were part of the top tier of sponsored players, even going so far as receiving invites to formal events, and while their relationship wasn't public, their closeness was obvious during their streams and events.

It was all publicity to the world, which was precisely the reason why they had mutually agreed on not making their relationship public for the time being.

"I think we've wasted enough water," Minseok sighed, but there was no real scolding behind it. Chanyeol made a protesting sound when the hot water was turned off, but they only ushered him to bed, where he insisted on lying in the middle.

Yixing was drop dead tired, so he was already halfway asleep when he heard someone's breath hitch.

"Really, Yeol?" Minseok muttered. Upon turning to face them, Chanyeol nuzzled into the crook of Yixing's neck immediately, and there were movements Yixing couldn't quite pinpoint, but he didn't have to. He simply put an arm around Chanyeol's waist, tugging him close and away from Minseok.

"Sleepy?" he asked, and Chanyeol hummed. Minseok reacted with faint exasperation.

"He was literally humping me," he protested, because even after two years, Minseok often had trouble reading Chanyeol right.

"Maybe he wanted a proper hug," Yixing replied, already wrestling a very pliant Chanyeol around so he could spoon him, tightly pressing their bodies together.

"Sorry," Chanyeol whispered. He heard them share a kiss, slow and sweet, and then Minseok's hand joined Yixing's.

He hadn't said a word to assure Chanyeol that it was alright, that it was his own mistake, but Yixing figured that the kiss had said that much.

Minseok wasn't a shy person per sé, and he wasn't even overly taciturn once you got to know him, but sometimes, actions spoke louder than words with him.

If anyone asked, Yixing wouldn't be able to explain why reading Chanyeol came so naturally to him. He was simply an individual like any other, with a distinct rhythm to him, a distinct pattern that Yixing had adjusted to. One that was not always easy and comfortable, but feeling him drift off in his arms was enough to assure him that it was worth it.

* * *

Chanyeol had regular check-ups at the hospital. He'd been volunteering to have his process documented thoroughly for research purposes. Currently, they were suspecting the rather new, rare disease took root in the way humans had been working with technology in the past decades, but it might be caused by something else entirely, for all they knew. What they did know, however, was that playing games did not have any effect on it. In a way, Chanyeol was born to be a star player, an idol, a wildcard. It also made life outside of games really, really hard, though, and that was the not-so-glamorous reality.  


When Minseok returned home after having met up with some old high school friends, he heard the shouting before he even opened the door.

He stared at the thin sliding door, listening to the muted argument and sighed. He should have skipped on the last round of shots. Minseok was usually the one to step in and end arguments, and he didn't mind, but he was feeling a bit too tipsy for it right now.

Well, this wasn't gonna be resolved on its own, so Minseok typed in the code and entered their shared apartment, closing the second sliding door, too, to prevent the noise from reaching the hallway.

"You're more sensitive than a damn AI, Chanyeol, so don't act like you didn't take the hint - what do you gain from ignoring it?"

Yixing was already at the yelling state, so Minseok was late.

It was somewhat amazing how Chanyeol had the natural ability to piss off someone as calm and collected as Yixing to the point where he was yelling. Sure, Minseok and Yixing would argue as well - it came with the job and with living together. But their arguments would consist of quiet, strained words, frustrated sighs and eventual apologies.

Nobody was able to make Yixing lose his composure quite like Chanyeol.

"It's because I care for you, but never mind," Chanyeol snapped, throwing his hands up. "Let's just ignore everything and brood in silence until shit goes down and then wonder how we could have _ possibly _prevented it-"

"What's going on?" Minseok asked from the doorway, arms crossed.

Yixing seemed relieved to see him.

"Nothing," he barked, nodding towards Chanyeol. "Get him off my back, _ please- _"

"Can you not talk like I'm some kinda pet you can hand around?" Chanyeol asked with a frown, his voice still loud and provocative. He looked actually intimidating like that, raw anger emanating off his tall figure, but Minseok wasn't fazed.

Staying calm was the first step to winning arguments, and that rung true especially regarding Chanyeol and Yixing.

"Chanyeol, what happened?" Minseok asked, forcing his voice not to sound exasperated. It really was late and his head was making every tiny movement feel bigger than it should be.

"Yixing is working himself to death and he's been miserable but refuses to take a break," Chanyeol said straight away, causing Yixing to throw up his hands in angry disbelief.

"I am _ not _working myself to death-"

"He clearly felt like shit," Chanyeol cut him off, simply growing louder to drown out Yixing's voice, "but he wouldn't listen to me and then he said I had it all wrong, and then he went back to work. I know when he feels bad but he doesn't want anyone to help him, apparently!"

Minseok nodded, and then turned to Yixing.

"Yixing, what happened?" he asked again.

"Are you saying I'm delusional?" Chanyeol began, but Minseok only raised a palm to signal for him to stay put and wait. It worked, because Chanyeol wasn't only easily infected by whatever had been bothering Yixing; Minseok's own demeanour bled over as well, and as long as he stayed calm and reasonable, Chanyeol would at least attempt to follow his example.

"I was working," Yixing began, emphasizing the word ‘_ was’ _ , "when Chanyeol decided that I'm _ miserable_, as he put it, and that we should just put everything down and play, hoping that shit will get done all on its own."

He was still angry, but obviously put in an effort to sound reasonable because it hadn't been Minseok offending him.

"Even when I did put my work down, he wouldn't let me be, and I really just wanna be alone right now and take that fucking break he was so keen on me having."

Minseok looked at Chanyeol with an unspoken question in his eyes that Chanyeol picked up on immediately, ears turning red already. They'd talked about this, about respecting alone time.

"Something was still _ bothering _him," he defended himself, hands balled to fists by his side. "I felt it."

"I believe you, and I understand that you don't want him to keep secrets like this, which Yixing tends to do," Minseok admitted, earning himself a betrayed, somewhat scalding look. "But," he added, raising his voice just a little, "sometimes, you need time to think first, to sort things out before you present them. And sometimes, issues just dissolve if you calm down and have a good rest."

"I just," Chanyeol began, shoulders slumping, gaze dropping, and yes, Minseok had this. "I was just worried."

Yixing looked angry still, which wasn't surprising - he had quite the temper and wasn't nearly as jumpy or easily forgiving as Chanyeol; once he was mad, he stayed so for a while. In response to Minseok's meaningful look, however, he caved.

"And I appreciate that," he said through gritted teeth. "But it really was nothing, and I would like to be alone now."

"Okay," Chanyeol muttered, and the fact that Minseok's own calmness had been enough to serve as a canvas for his guilt was telling. Yixing only walked past them, slipping into his shoes, throwing on a jacket and leaving the apartment.

Chanyeol adapted even faster when he was high-strung, so seeing the change in his demeanor was almost bizarre. Within less than a minute, he was going from defeated, but angry, to just defeated, with eyes shining suspiciously.

"I fucked up again," he whispered, slumping onto the couch and burying his face in his hands. "Why didn't I just shut up?"

Minseok couldn't help the small, fond smile ghosting around his lips.

"Shit happens," he shrugged, ruffling a hand through Chanyeol's curls. "Yixing will get over it. Just apologize later - though I don't think he'll expect you to."

"Of course I'll apologize," Chanyeol choked out, voice clogged up with regret. "When will I ever learn..."

"It's not about learning," Minseok corrected him gently, suppressing a yawn. "It's about practice. And no one's ever done practicing."

Chanyeol leaned his head against Minseok's waist, seeking contact despite the awkward angle.

It was something Minseok said to him a lot, whenever he felt like Chanyeol needed a reminder. He couldn't help his mood mirroring that of others, amplifying it even, but he could learn to take control and step away from whatever caused the situation to get out of hand.

"I was just so _ angry_," Chanyeol whispered. "It was stupid-"

"And now it's over," Minseok cut him off gently, but surely. "Let's go to bed. I'm tired and Yixing will probably be out for a bit."

Chanyeol nodded, nuzzling into his waist just a few more moments before they headed to bed.

That night, Chanyeol insisted on being the big spoon, and Minseok accepted the warmth encasing him with what Chanyeol would describe as a content purr. Too tipsy to put in the energy to argue, Minseok just got comfortable and enjoyed the other's light, lingering grip on him. Chanyeol loved to be coddled, but he also had a strong urge to hold and protect, and Minseok saw no reason not to allow him that much. After all, Chanyeol trusted him, no, them, with so much more.

Minseok barely even stirred when Yixing climbed into bed with them much later, only vaguely feeling his hand on his waist before it was gone, sliding up and down Chanyeol's arm, where it came to a rest.

* * *

Chanyeol loved gaming with his team. He loved exploring fantastic worlds, learning concepts and solving puzzles; he loved the excitement, the thrill, the challenge.

He also cherished it because it felt like the closest to being normal he'd ever get. When he was gaming, there was nobody with him in the simulation booth, and most of the time, there was no one with him inside the game, either, except for Yixing and Minseok. Sure, there were other players, but he could rarely hear them talk and even if he did, something about the digital avatars was lost on him. No matter how realistic the depiction, the uncanny valley was apparently enough for his mind to lose interest in copying them. His bond to Yixing and Minseok was strong enough that hearing their voices could very well have an impact on him, but overall, Chanyeol felt free inside the games. Like himself. Like more than a mirror to other people's emotions.

When he'd first stepped into a simulation booth, he'd thought he'd never leave again. As a teenager, he'd fantasized about living in a small apartment that's nothing but a simulation booth, communicating with the outside world without ever having to actually be among people.

Even now, with gaming being his job, he liked to step inside the booth in his free time, switching on a game and just relaxing in the virtual reality, but he also enjoyed mingling and meeting new people.

Meeting Yixing and Minseok had done that to him.

At first, he'd been nervous and a little wary when the company introduced them to each other, suggesting they form a team. Back then, the other two had been hard to read though, their postures calm and neutral, but not unfriendly, and it was the most grounded Chanyeol had ever felt among people. It was probably due to the two of them being so very calm that allowed Chanyeol to focus, to get to know their nuances and to be himself for long enough to fall in love. Around the time he realized that, however, the other two had already been pretty intimate with each other. Thinking that there was no room for his silly feelings, Chanyeol had spent a few painful weeks trying to avoid them, spending even more time in the virtual reality, only to realize that he was missing them. Terribly.

Now being in a relationship with more than one person was still very unusual, but Yixing had suggested trying just that when they sat down together one day. Chanyeol could still remember having cried back then, and how for the first time ever, his own emotions had seemed to rub off on the others.

_ Minseok liked you first, anyway_, Yixing had said.

That one, fateful day would forever stay ingrained into his mind for all the various emotions he'd felt, all of which had felt like they were originating from his heart alone.

Yes, being with Minseok and Yixing made him feel whole, gave him confidence and security.

Sometimes he wondered how he possibly deserved not only one, but both of them in his life.

Sometimes he wondered whether he'd ever be able to repay them in kind.  


Chanyeol was good at giving his all, good at cheering people on and drawing happiness from small things. He was terrible, however, when it came to conflicts and negative emotions, so he was not only a handful even on good days, but also essentially useless when the other two needed him.

He was painfully aware of that when he stepped out of the simulation booth a few weeks later to find them both sitting away from each other in the living room, a hostile silence lingering in the air.

His previous good mood deflated immediately as he stood in the doorway, feeling lost.

"Everything alright?" he asked carefully, still slightly out of breath from playing.

"Yeah," Minseok said. Curt, but not unfriendly. Still, Chanyeol knew him for too long to not react to the tension in his voice.

"What happened?" he asked, feeling strained himself already.

This was bad. He should probably leave right about now.

But he wanted to be of use, too. He wanted to help them, and if he left them alone, then it should be a result of his own decision, not him backing away from his own mind.

"Don't worry about it, Chanyeol," Yixing said, purposefully gentle, from where he was sitting at the desk. "We just disagreed on something. Nothing wild."

He could see the way Minseok's brows shot up but he held back on commenting. Yixing and Minseok rarely ever fought or even disagreed on things, but whenever they did, they'd become like this, in order not to upset Chanyeol.

Obviously, he still got upset - not because he could sense it in their mood but because they had to burden themselves and hold back because of him.

"Should I leave so you can continue?" he asked, and it came out a little more petulant than he'd intended it to.

"We were done," Minseok said tersely.

For a moment, nobody moved or said a word. It was Minseok who looked up first, a small sigh on his lips.

"We'll be fine, I mean it - are you crying?"

Chanyeol quickly turned away from them.

"No," he said, and it came out ridiculously broken.

There was a hand on his shoulder before he could even think of leaving.

"Hey, why are you crying?" Minseok asked, mildly worried, and it added to the emotional instability, tipping Chanyeol further towards the chaos he never wanted to slip into.

"I don't know, okay?" he burst out, looking at Minseok, trying to sound casual despite the tears running down his cheeks already. "One of you is sad. It's not my fault - you should be the ones telling me - why am I crying?"

There was a flash of guilt on Minseok's expression, but Yixing caved in first.

"It's my fault. I'm just-" he began, shrugged, and lowered his gaze again. "I... just don't feel so good today. Sorry."

Minseok's expression softened, feelings of anger and sadness both muted down to a bearable extent.

"Do you really still think I prefer Chanyeol over you?"

What?

The hand gently kneading his upper arm was enough to keep Chanyeol silent, but his thoughts were racing, pushing through the sadness and guilt that wasn't his own.

"I don't," Yixing lied. Chanyeol always knew when one of them was lying. Which was the reason he immediately crossed the room to stand before Yixing, who refused to meet his eyes.

"He doesn't," Chanyeol insisted. He wanted to reach out and touch the other, place his hands on his shoulders, make him look up and listen-

"He never lies about that," he insisted. "I don't know what you were arguing about, or why you would think that but whenever he tells you that he loves you, he means it. I know it."

There was a shift in atmosphere as Yixing looked up at him in mild surprise, and Chanyeol had a hard time breathing and managing his own emotions, but he pushed through regardless.

"And I mean it, too. If you'll still have me. So please don't be so sad anymore," Chanyeol said clumsily, pulling Yixing into a firm hug. The other reciprocated immediately, pulling the other down to sit on his lap.

"What are you talking about - _ if you'll still have me_. Like I have any reason to be mad at you," Yixing hummed into his neck, and Chanyeol already felt the white noise inside his head subside. "I'm just really stupid sometimes,” Yixing muttered. “Sorry."

"Don't apologize," Minseok sighed, suddenly much closer than before, and Chanyeol felt a hand rubbing over his back soothingly. "It's my fault that you doubted us in the first place. I'll be clearer on that in the future."

Yixing's grip tightened a little, but it was a good kind of tension, a good kind of emotion dusting their words now.

"You're really something though," Minseok suddenly said, flicking Chanyeol's head, making him snuggle closer to Yixing with a protesting sound in the back of his throat.

"You really do make it impossible for us three to part, don't you?"

Now he was messing up Chanyeol's hair, who scrunched his nose in response, looking up at him - only to realize that this time, it had been Yixing.

"What do you mean? Are you saying I'm a pain in the ass?" he whined, and out of the blue, Minseok leaned down to press a kiss to his cheek.

"He's saying that you're really keeping us all together, chaotic as you may be," Yixing said in his stead.

"And since when have you been able to read my thoughts?" Minseok asked with his arms crossed, putting on a bit of a show. Chanyeol loved seeing Minseok comfortable enough to get like this. It made him happy.

"You're so embarrassingly whipped for Chanyeol, it really isn't hard," Yixing replied, and he could hear the smile in his voice.

"I could be whipped for you, too. _ By _you, even," Minseok hummed suggestively, and oh, the mood was changing again already, Chanyeol could feel it.

"Our stream starts in an hour, don't get Chanyeol's hopes up here. In fact, we should probably get ready," Yixing quipped, patting Chanyeol's thigh. With a reluctant sigh, he got back to his feet.

"What's with that pout, hm?" Minseok asked. "I thought you wanted to kick some ass today? I've never seen you glitch out in the arena, so you’d better not rely on it too much."

"I won't," Chanyeol protested. "Don't rely on me saving you this time."

"Fair enough," Minseok grinned, and then pulled Yixing down into a sudden, deep kiss, open-mouthed and with hints of tongue. As suddenly as it had happened, it was gone again, and Minseok smacked his lips.

"Let's go get ready, then?"

Chanyeol didn't even have the heart to complain about the involuntary arousal he was feeling now - not when Yixing looked slightly flushed and happy, silently biting back a smile.

He really was lucky to have both of them.

In that very moment, Chanyeol was perfectly sure that the rush of joy and affection he felt came from his own heart alone.

  
  



End file.
